


FireDrake

by SkylynnShimmertail



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Animal Behavior, Animal Traits, Blood and Injury, Creature Fic, M/M, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pack Bonding, Pack Dynamics, The Author Regrets Everything, Threats of Violence, Vinny can talk to Galo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:48:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23863291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkylynnShimmertail/pseuds/SkylynnShimmertail
Summary: Galo is a Firehouse Drake, the first one in the world. As such, he is more important than he knows. When Galo's assistance is required to help a pack of the rare Burnish Drakes, he learns about what it is to be apart of something more than a fire brigade.
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [To Save a Drake](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16991880) by [theMidgey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theMidgey/pseuds/theMidgey). 



> I actually used an outline for this!

There's a lot more to being a firefighter than just fighting fires.

A firefighter has the responsibility to the next generation to teach them about the very fires that causes them to be called in the first place. Not sticking things into electrical sockets, not putting water on grease or electrical fires, not leaving blankets or towels on heaters; basically how to keep them from being called in the first place.

“Okay, who can tell me what a firefighter’s job is?” Aina said into the microphone.

“Ooh! Me! Me! Me!” echoed through the gymnasium as the children on the bleachers all shot their hands into the air.

“Okay, uh…” Aina surveyed the children for a moment before pointing to a young boy with glasses. “You! Can you tell me exactly what a firefighter’s job is?” She held the microphone out to the child.

“Um, you fight fires?”

“Yes! That is exactly right.” Aina said into her microphone as walked. “Firefighters fight fires.” She shrugged playfully as she turned on one foot, twirling the microphone cord around one finger. “Huh, you’d think I’d know that.” 

“You’re a firefighter?” A little girl piped up.

“That’s right!” Aina cheered responded into the mic. “And today, a special friend and I have been invited to teach you all some fire safety.”

In the center of the gym basketball court, Aina had set up equipment that looked like something out of the circus. Hoops with paper stretched across them, a ladder and a large, cardboard cut out painted to look like building were some of the things propped up.

It was Aina’s turn to do the School visit this month and under normal circumstances she wouldn’t have minded; she didn’t mind answering questions the kids asked and it often ended up being kind of fun getting the chance to play around and put on a show.

But this particular month, Aina has kinda sorta lost a bet…

Aina walked towards her set-up and pulled a shag bath rug out of a showy red and yellow chest. “Now, my friend needs a moment to get ready, but he’s really eager to meet you all. So, while we wait for him to finish, let me introduce myself.”

“My name is Aina and I’m apart of Burning Rescue. That means I’m a firefighter, but there’s something else that makes Burning Rescue different from normal firefighters?”

Once again, hands shot up into the air and this time, Aina pointed to a girl.

“You guys use those big robots that the other firefighters can’t use?” She asked.

“O-M-G, yes! That is exactly right!” The little girl smiled. “We use machines that most other firefighters don’t get to use. We also get to something else that makes us different, but…” Aina winked and some of the kids giggled at her. “we’ll talk about that in a minute.”

Aina looked over towards the door that led into the hallway and Varys sent her a quick thumbs up. The door began to open and a large metal box dotted with holes was wheeled in.

“Okay, looks like my friend is all ready to go.” Aina smiled big as Varys wheeled the box towards Aina and then reached around for a handle in front.

“So, d’you guys wanna meet Galo? Clap your hands if you want to meet him.” The children began to clap their hands and at Aina’s signal, Vary’s turned the handle and the door swung open.

The children let out a chorus of small gasps as a blue and red blob rushed out and made a B-line for Aina. Muscles rippled under thick sapphire-colored fur and a red chest and belly, a bushy tail swept back and forth like a husky’s and big paws thudded heavily. A human-like face devoid of fur, with a spiky blue mohawk exhibited bright blue eyes and proud smile. He also wore a bright red vest with reflective patches around his torso and it scrabbled on the linoleum floor of the gym towards the woman on its digitigrade feet.

As the creature struggled to stand steady on the rug that was a bit too small for him to get all his paws on, Aina simply placed her fist on her hip and gave the beast a raised eyebrow as at gathered up its muscular limbs and sat on it’s haunches next to her. It looked up at her smiling; it’s tail swishing back and forth.

“So, this is Galo!” Galo lifted a paw and waved at the children. “He’s our firehouse drake and he’s very excited to be here, aren’t you Galo?” The Drake began to shoot showy kisses towards the audience. “As you can see, he’s also a bit of a ham.”

“Now, Galo’s never been to a school before so you guys are going to be his very first audience.” Aina gave Galo a signal and he sat up on his haunches and clapped his paws. So far so good.

“Now Galo, you wanna show everybody what you can do?” Aina asked into the mic. Galo stood and gave a loud bark that reverberated in the massive room.

“Okay so, let’s start with sit-“ Galo immediately sat down.

“good, now up.” Galo stood.

“Okay, up all the way.” Galo stood up on two legs and moved to but his forepaws on Aina’s shoulders before she gave a quiet but firm “no”.

“Okay, twirl.” Galo spun on his toes.

“Good boy! Isn’t he good?” She asked and the kids clapped their hands.

“Alright, let’s get serious. One of Galo’s jobs is to help show what we should do when there’s a fire. First: who knows what we do when there smoke everywhere.” There were no hands this time.

“Well, when there’s smoke in the room, we need to get low and crawl. We do that because the smoke goes high and down on the floor, it’s a little easier for use to see where we’re going. Galo, can you crawl? Crawl.” She commanded.

Galo laid down and began crawling off of his rug, scooting his chest and belly against the gym floor. “Good boy!” Aina patted Galo on his side.

“Okay, let’s try something else. Does everyone know what we do when our clothes catch fire? What do we do?”

The kids said it with her. “We stop, drop and roll.” As they said it, Galo rolled over on his back, his paws waving in the air as he rotated.

“Good boy. Okay, we’ve got one more and this time, we’re gonna show you what Galo does when we get called to a fire. ”

Aina and Galo walked over towards the building prop. She pointed to the faux third floor window; a doll had been placed in the window with a fearful face painted on. Galo eyed the doll excitedly as Aina placed him off towards the side. Aina pressed a button on the side and windows began to glow a flickering orange.

“Oh no!” Aina acted. “There’s someone trapped inside. Galo, go after ‘em!”

Galo immediately ran towards the chest and pulled out a portable extending ladder. Well, he pulled it out after he briefly froze on his white matoi…

“Leave that.” Aina corrected quietly.

After reluctently dropping the matoi and grabbing the ladder, he deftly ran on two legs towards the “building” and extended the ladder up towards the window. “Hurry Galo hurry!” Aina encouraged.

He scrambled up the ladder and picked up the doll and wrapped its arms around his neck. He then climbed back down, ran towards the chest and pulled out a fire blanket, which he laid down on the rescued toy.

“Yay, good boy.” Aina and the kids clapped their hands as Galo draped his body across the doll, as if protecting her from imaginary flames. “So, I hope you all have enjoyed our time here, Galo and I certainly did. Galo and I are so thankful for your time.” Aina said into the microphone as Galo returned to her side. “We’d love to see you all out and back to class and remember; Burning Rescue is here when you need us!”

Galo gave a happy bark and the two of them went to stand next to the door to the hallway where the kids lined up and were allowed to pet Galo on the head as they left.

🔥

Galo definitely knew what the pizzeria meant, because he refused to sit still. He didn’t care that he was actually given a chair to sit in, he was just as happy tearing slices pizza off and swallowing them whole. Galo hopped off the chair and began crawling and weaving through chair and table legs, though he was well trained enough to know better than to bother the other customers.

“Mmph! Galo watch it!” Remi griped as Galo’s tail almost knocked his iced tea off the table as he snooped around beneath it. Galo didn’t seem to hear him, but his sense of smell was absolutely on point because he froze when the smell of pizza sauce and melted cheese reached his nose.

Burning Rescue had about a second to pick the drinks off the table before Galo almost hit his head peeking it out from under the table and watching as he watched the man and a drake with pale brown scales, a uniform and an apron came over holding pans of steaming fresh pizza.

“Four more Inferno Volcano Margherita Mega Max Pizzas!”

Aina smiled. “Thanks Hank! Galo, get back in your chair.” She said without looking under the table.

Galo quickly disappeared back under the table and reappeared sliding into his chair, showing off the black t-shirt Aina had convinced him to wear and a thick black collar with a Promepolis dog tag dangling from it.

“So happy you were able to get him to wear clothes today.” Remi said as the Pizzeria Drake slid the pan in front of him. “Thanks Elliot.” The Drake gave him a nod.

“Y’know, it’s not as hard as make it out to be.” Aina smiled after a swallow of the cheesy goodness. “You just got to know how to talk to him.”

“Meaning, you bribed him with pizza again?”

“Hey, he barely wears a pants on a normal day. Other than his vest, the guy goes full commando usually.” Lucia said.

“Drakes don’t usually wear clothes, so if you asked me, we lucked out on getting one that actually seems to enjoy it.”

Galo salivated over pizza as it was placed on the table.

“Galo wait.” Aina said before he could start eating.

Galo froze and looked at Aina. He shot large puppy-dog eyes at her and let his furry, elf-like ears droop. Everyone reached in a grabbed a slice and put it on their own plates. “Okay.”

Galo practically slapped his paws on the table as he grabbed his own slice. He opened his mouth wide, showing of his set of dog like teeth and bit into his slice, euphoria obvious on his face.

“So when are you taking him to the research lab?” Varys asked as they all observed Galo have an experience at the wonderful taste.

“After this, they’re just gonna give him a health check and make sure he’s growing the way he should.”

“Hey, your sister’s the one who’s going to do his examination right?” Remi asked.

“Yeah, she’s the head of the Drake research going on right now.” Aina confirmed.

“Do you know what she’s working on right now?”

“Not really, but she might have something she can tell me when we visit. While we’re there, we’re gonna let Galo have some time with Kray.”

Galo looked up at that name. He huffed “ ** _Kray?_** ” in a young sounding voice. Galo had the ability to speak some words in the human language, but his vocabulary was limited.

Aina smiled at him. “Yeah, we’re gonna go and see Heris and Kray.”

Galo’s tail began swinging through the gaps in his chair.

“But, everything is probably gonna be fine. They just need make sure. Can’t have the first firehouse drake in history getting sick.”

Remi nodded. “Drakes are still kind of mysterious to us, we don’t know what they can do, where they live or why some take to domestication better than others. They’re rare too.”

“The only one’s we know are Elliot and Galo.” Lucia added. “The research team has their work cut out for them.”

“Well, they have some that work with the military sometimes, that’s what Kray is trained for; but other than them you’re right, there just aren’t a whole lot for them to study.”

Galo, not paying much attention to the conversation, huffed at Aina. “Yeah, what is it buddy?” Galo looked into the Pizzeria towards Elliot, who was wiping down the counter.

“Yeah, you can go and talk with Elliot for a minute.” Given permission, Galo got out of the chair walked on two legs towards the aforementioned Drake.

After he left, Aina continued. “It’s been a year since the Prometh Foundation asked us to take him. They call us in every month for a check up and they say that they’ve never seen a Drake as comfortable with people as he is.”

“If he’s so comfortable with people, why’d they give him to a fire station?”

Aina shrugged. “Heris says she can’t tell me.”

“Is it classified?”

“Who knows? But I trust she’ll tell me when she can.”

🐲

“ _Hey Elliot_ ”

The pale brown drake behind the counter looked up. “ _Hey Galo, how was the school thing today_?”

“ _It was awesome! I did my tricks and I did that thing I told you about where I get the ladder and I have to pretend to get one of those things…”_

_“You mean a doll?”_

“ _Yeah, a doll! And I treat it like a person I need to get of the burning building.”_

Galo placed his paws on the countertop; unaware of how Elliot eyed the prints he left. _“And then at the end, I got to sit down and all the little humans came up and rubbed my head. Aina said I did really good today!”_

Elliot nodded his head at Galo’s story. “ _Did they let you use your matoi thing_?”

“ _No, she said nobody would know what it was and explaining it would take too long_.” Galo’s ears dropped. “ _But maybe she’ll let me use it next time_.” He said positively.

“ _Hmm. Will you be sneaking by tonight? I need to know so I can save some leftovers_.”

“ _Nah, I gotta go by the lab today.”_ Galo bounced on his toes excitedly as Elliot wiped around his paws. Since the two of them were the only drake the other knew, it wasn’t unusual for Galo to sneak out of his kennel at the firehouse at night to come by and visit Elliot, who slept in the pizzeria. “ _I’m gonna see Kray today_!”

Kray was Galo’s mentor; a massive, pale gold drake that worked with humans who took him on “Military missions”, as Kray called them. Since being raised by humans, Galo didn’t know many drakes outside of Kray, Kray’s pack and Elliot. Galo had been living at the firehouse for about a year now and he had only recently been labeled safe enough to be able to participate in things that involved the public, other than rescues of course.

“ _Didn’t you say that Kray was gone on one of his missions_?”

“ _Uh-huh, I don’t know exactly what it was, but he said he should be back before my next check-up.”_

Elliot turned away from the smudged countertop to the brick oven and picked up the pizza peel. He leaned forward and used the peel to lift the pizza out of the oven.

Galo watched him. _“Do you think they’d let me take some pizza to the labs_?”

“ _Probably not_.” Elliot used to live on the streets alone, before the pizzeria owner took him in. Scrounging for food with no pack to watch out for him, Elliot was still a bit shy; having only recently gotten comfortable to take orders himself.

“ _Well, maybe they will one day. Cause you and the chef make the best Inferno Volcano Margherita Mega Max in the world_.” Galo held his arms out in exaggeration.

“ _Huh, thanks. But, the school thing went well_?”

“ _Yeah, it feels really good to help teach fire safety. I’m doing like Kray does and I’m acting as a role-model for all the drakes in the world.”_

“ _I don’t think that’s what doing military work means, Galo.”_ Elliot pulled the pizza out and set it on the tray.

“ _Well I mean, he must be good at whatever it is he does, right_?”

Elliot shrugged, “ _I mean-_ “

“Galo! C’mon, we’re going.” Aina called out to him from her motorcycle.

_“Oh, gotta go. See ya El.”_

_“Later”_


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Galo goes in for a check-up and Heris tries to find solutions to a mysterious problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm looking for a Beta if anyone is interested

If there was one thing Galo loved, along with pizza, Japanese movies and fighting fires, it was riding with Aina on her motorcycle.

The feeling of the wind ruffling his fur and the desert landscape rushing past made him feel as if he was flying. He looked over Aina’s shoulder, peering through his motorcycle goggles at the long stretch of road in front of them. Aina revved the engine again and Galo opened his mouth and let his tongue loll as the wind picked up.

“You like that?” Aina shouted over the wind. She felt Galo nod his head against her shoulder. Aina smiled, as the idiotic drake snapped at some wisps of sand that whipped past his nose. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Galo actually manage to pluck an old candy wrapper out of the breeze.

Galo briefly loosened his hold on Aina as his body wiggled with excitement, he reached to his mouth to grab it and present it to Aina like a gift, only for the trash to whip out of his hand and go flying backwards. Galo whipped his head around to watch it go in confusion.

God, he was an idiot.

Aina’s internal laughter at the drake’s bewilderment at what had happened to his prize was interrupted by the feeling of Galo removing one of his arms from Aina waist and his forearm entered her vision as Galo pointed ahead. A group of buildings caught the sunlight as it rose over the horizon, a splatter of stark white against the orange and browns of the desert.

“I know; I see it.” Aina twisted the handlebar and the two drove up towards the security gate. Aina opened the visor of her helmet as the guard opened the window. “Hey, I’m here to see Heris Ardebit, I have an appointment.” Aina pulled her ID from her pocket and held it up.

The guard peered at the card, then opened the gate and waved her in. Aina parked her motorcycle and swung her leg over the bike, hanging her helmet on the handles and removing Galo’s goggles as he sat, sitting but vibrating with anticipation. “Okay, c’mon.”

Galo leaned off her bike and followed her on all fours as she walked into the building’s side entrance.

The inside of the building was just as stark and bleached as the outside. Laboratory assistants wearing sterile white coats walked past as Aina signed in. Galo sniffed around while Aina was preoccupied; his head low as his nose twitched at the tile floor. He snorted at his reflection and sneezed at the antiseptic smell of the labs.

“Galo” A voice called to him. He looked up and saw a woman with pink hair and glasses in a lab coat stepping through one of the automatic doors smiling at him. Galo gave her a broad smile and his tail immediately began wagging.

He jolted forwards, his happy barking echoing in the high ceilinged chamber. Galo flung his forepaws up and the moment they landed on the woman’s shoulders, he hugged her close to his muscled body. “Oomph! Y-yes, yes; it’s good to see you too.” She chuckled as she patted his back, her hand sinking into fluff.

“Heris!” Aina called as she snapped the pen back to the sign-in clipboard. At the sight of Galo clinging to her sister, she scoffed. “Uh, Sir?” Galo looked over his shoulder, beaming at her. “You know you’re only allowed to do that with Remi. Get down.” She said sternly.

Galo whined a bit, but obeyed. Aina quickly replaced him however, throwing her arms around Heris and squeezing her tightly. “Heris, how’s my favorite sister!”

“It’s good to see you both here. You guys here for Galo’s health check?”

“Yep, need to make sure the big goofball is running at the top of his game.”

Heris led the two of them through the large mechanical doors, Galo walking obediently behind the two sisters.

“So, have things been going well?” Aina asked as she stretched one of her arms above her head.

“You know I can’t tell you that Aina.” Heris said affectionately.

Galo wasn’t paying attention to his handler and her sister.

The lab was a place that Galo, despite having been raised there, only knew so much about. He knew about the big enclosure that he spent most of his life in when he was taken from his parents; it was a nice place, big with lots of plants, glass in the ceiling to let in light and a nice cave to sleep and hide in.

He knew about the Doctor’s room, the place where he would go for the doctors would run their hands all over him and poke at him with needles. Not the greatest thing in the world, but he remembers that he would always get a nice treat, lots of petting and told he did a good job.

Other than those two things, he didn’t really know about the lab. Back when he lived there, there were only two things that mattered: the television that the doctors would sometime let him into the break room to watch his television shows and Kray.

After what happened with his parents, the only things he had were the humans who had cared for him and Kray. Kray had acted as a mentor to him. Back when Galo was still just cub, Kray had been the one to teach him how to be a Drake. How to climb, how to vocalize, even a couple of human words so Galo would be able to communicate with them.

Galo hadn’t seen Kray in a while. He’d been gone on one of his missions. Exactly what his missions were, Galo wasn’t sure; but Kray had assured him that it was something that the humans needed and that, like Galo; he had a responsibility to help the people he worked with.

“ **Kray?** ” Galo grunted to the two women. Heris turned to Galo and gave an apologetic smile.

“Oh, I’m sorry Galo, Kray hasn’t gotten back from his mission yet.” She said.

At Galo’s crestfallen expression, Heris put a hand between his shoulder blades. “I know, I’m sorry; he was needed a bit longer than we thought he’d be. He’ll be back soon, at least another day, I promise.”

She turned away from the firehouse drake to her sister. “So, how have things been going with Burning Rescue?

“Oh, y’know; same old same old. Most days, everyone is wrapped up trying to deal with this guy.” She pointed her thumb to Galo, who stopped to scratch at his ear. “I’m telling you; everyday, he wants to try and stick his nose into something he has no business with. He almost got his face chopped off when the chief was giving his engine a test drive.”

“Oh wow,” Heris hid a smile behind her hand. “Thank goodness that crisis was averted.”

“Yeah, but there’s always tomorrow, isn’t there big guy?” Aina said, prompting a bark from Galo.

“But overall, everything has been going okay? He’s been doing his job okay? He’s been learning at a good pace, he’s picking up everything you want him to do, no problem?” Heris held her pen to her clipboard.

“Yep, no problems.” Aina said with a smile. “He’s not the sharpest tool in the shed, but his head’s in the game and his heart’s in the right place.”

“Hmm…” Heris looked to her clipboard to make some notes.

Aina’s smile fell as she noticed a glint in her sister’s eye. “What?” Heris turned her back on her, but Aina caught view of a smile on Heris’ face. “What?” Aina whined as Heris snickered at her.

“Well…I just find it kinda funny that…” She trailed off with look of mischief on her face.

“That what?”

“…that you say that now, when you complained to me about Galo when you first got him.”

A look of surprise showed on Aina’s face. “Oh, is that all? I thought it was something serious.”

“You remember, right?” Heris remarked.

“How could I not?” Aina answered. “Ignis came in, said we’d be getting a new recruit soon and then a day later, we get this giant cage delivered and get told we’re gonna have to figure out how to train a drake of all things.”

Heris smiled gently. “I knew about as much as you did; we just got the go ahead to bundle Galo up for transport. Professor Prometh wouldn’t tell us anything else, just that it was time for us to test a Drake’s potential for something other than combat. I mean, Galo was always too sweet to be used by the army, but I never would have guessed he’d be able to be used for firefighting.”

Yeah, Aina had been just about as thrilled as everyone else when Galo arrived at the firehouse. When Ignis and Remi had returned from a call from one of the leading Scientist and Drake experts in the world, nobody had a clue what they could have been talking about. The two just returned with tired looks on their faces and said they’d be receiving a package soon.

Nobody could have guessed they’d be getting a one of the rarest and least understood animals in the world in the mail!

And that was only the first half of that sandwich. When Galo had first joined, admittedly nobody was really sure what to do with him. He had been dropped off in a crate, all barks and wiggles, with the orders of simply doing what they could to find a place for him on the team. Nobody knew what to do with him; they had a mascot (who Galo had a surprising amount of interest in; not as a meal thank goodness, but it still took Vinny some time to warm up the drake) and even if they had another job, it wasn’t like anyone really knew how to train him for it.

Aina smiled as Galo brushed past her leg to look through the glass windows at the scientists going about their work, his eager breath fogging up the window as he left paw prints on the glass as he leapt up to get a better view of the people inside.

“Hm,” Aina chuckled at Galo whining at his fog-obstructed view. “You should’ve seen Remi’s face. Galo came out and just bowled him over like a truck!”

Heris smiled. “Well, I’m glad everything turned out well. Here we go.” Heris stepped forward to one of the doors and typed in a code. She opened the door to an examination room with a large affixed, metal table in the center. The walls were lined with special equipment and computers with tools attached to it. Heris sat down at the computer chair as Aina called Galo into the room.

“Okay, just hop up on the table and we can get started.” Heris said, looking her shoulder.

“Alright; Galo up!” Aina instructed. Galo obediently jumped up onto the table, looking back and forth excitedly.

“Okay, so” Aina said as she grabbed onto Galo’s collar. “What’s first?

Heris opened a drawer full of equipment and took out her tools. She checked Galo’s eyes and ears, making sure they were both clear. She checked his feet for irritation and shined a light down his throat, finding everything as it should be. Heris expertly switched between her hardware; from holding the stethoscope up to his chest and listening to his strong heartbeat, to the hypodermic needle (which Galo flinched at) and vial that she used to extract a small amount of blood, she professionally moved from test to test.

Galo handled everything with a smile on his face, his tail swishing rapidly at his joy of the attention. His favorite part by far was when Heris had to run her hands over his body, checking for growths and bumps. He wriggled with excitement as Heris gently squeezed his wrists, Aina had to keep both hands on the drake’s collar lest the excitement prove too much for her sister to handle.

“Hmm,” Heris looked at her watch as she pressed two fingers to Galo’s pulse point. She picked up her clipboard and made a note. “His pulse is a little high, but that could just the excitement.” Galo’s foot slipped off the table as he tried to turn around.

Aina gasped. “Oops! You okay big guy?” Galo nodded, uncaring of his misstep.

“Alright,” Aina turned to Heris. “Is that all?” She asked.

“Just about, we just need to do a quick CT scan.” Heris turned towards the door and made to walk through it, but a sudden ring interrupted her. She reached into her lab coat pocket and pulled out a small phone.

“Yes?” Heris answered. As Aina helped Galo off of the table, the small smile that sat on the scientist’s face slowly melted away. Her face morphed into one of concern, her brow furrowing and her face changing into one of concern. “He did what?”

With his paws on the ground, Galo wandered over to Heris’ side and nudged against her hip. He huffed at her, asking for a treat and pawed at her hand, which hung at her side. She brushed him away. “Shh! No, I’m still here.”

Galo whined a bit at her rebuff, but he settled for sitting down at her side and giving her puppy eyes. She paid no mind to him, her expression becoming progressively more agitated. “He did what? When? How severe?” Heris turned and briskly walked towards her desk.

“What’s wrong?” Aina asked. Heris earned her degree through professionalism and a nose to the grindstone attitude, but she could never resist giving Galo a pat well done during his checkup.

“Well, get him in and administer the tranqs, we don’t want him to get too stressed out.” She slapped her clipboard down on the desk and began to hastily tap at her keyboard without sitting down.

Aina walked towards her, poised to put a hand on her sister’s shoulder. “Heris?”

“Uh sorry Aina,” She looked over her shoulder. “could we do the CT scan tomorrow?”

“Well, I mean…I can ask the Chief if we can have the afternoon; but, is everything alright? You looked worried.” Aina said, a concerned look on her face.

“Huh, oh yeah, sure.” She mumbled. “Something just popped up. We’re gonna need this room to deal with it.” She got up and gave Aina a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, everything is fine. They just need another set of hands on deck. Sorry, I can’t tell you anymore.”

“Well, okay; but you owe me a dinner!” Aina said.

“Heh, it’s a deal.”

With Galo walking in between them, Heris escorted them back to the entrance.

Heris shielded her eyes against the bright sun, having been inside since early that morning. “Phew! Anyways, I’ll see you guys tomorrow hopefully.” She got to her knee and gently scratched Galo under the chin, prompting his foot to twitch in rhythm to her hand. “Sorry I brushed you off before big guy. I’ll see you later. And I promise Kray will be back soon.” Galo smiled at her, rubbing his head up against her thigh before turning away to follow his handler.

Aina revved her bike as Galo slid his goggles snuggly over his eyes. The duo shot the scientist one last wave, and with a loud roar, the two gently drove out of the parking lot and sped down the road.

Heris watched as the two sped over the horizon. But the moment they were out of her sight, her smile disappeared as she turned and speed-walked back into the lab. As the door closed, an echo could be heard of her calling out orders.

🐀

By the time Aina and Galo got back, the sun had set and Promepolis had slowly begun to light up in hues of pale blue. Galo was off the bike before Aina had even had a chance to switch off the engine. With his tongue lolling out of his mouth, he ran across the floor, peeking around corners and under furniture. He didn’t notice the grey rat with a red firemen’s hat scuttle out from under the sofa after he passed it.

Vinny scaled Aina’s leg and torso like a mountaineer, nuzzling her face when he reached her shoulder; she laughed quietly as she rubbed his cheek with a finger.

“Hey Vin, anybody home?”

“Vinny!” He called out, only to freeze and cover his mouth with his tiny paws.

“ **Vinny!** ” A loud voice called out.

Vinny gave a loud squeak of fright and scurried down Aina’s legs and ran for his life. Within seconds, a certain drake tore after him.

“ **Vinny, Vinny**!” Galo called out after him as he ran, bumping and knocking into things as he went.

“Galo, remember not to step on him.” Aina calmly called as Galo chased the rodent, taking off her coat and walking towards her locker. She knew that Galo wouldn’t hurt Vinny; Galo might be big, clumsy and of questionable intelligence, but Galo wouldn’t hurt a fly. A loud crash came from one of the rooms…well, he wouldn’t mean to anyways.

As she finished putting away her things-

“Ahh! What the-“ A male voice cried.

“Hmm,” Aina hummed with a gentle smile, as she heard telltale barking mixed in with cries of surprise

She slammed the locker shut and strolled into the kitchen, behind the island of which a blue and red tail swung back and forth frantically. A steaming cup of coffee sat in a mug on the counter.

As Aina strolled forward and grabbed the mug, she observed the sight in front of her; Galo franticly rubbing and nuzzling against the young looking man who, despite his vocal protests, was getting near smothered beneath thick fluff.

“Oof! A-Aina! Get this- fuh- big lumix off of me!” Remi cried as Galo’s nose caught his glasses and flung them across the tile floor.

She took a sip of the coffee and grimaced at the bitter taste. As she reached for the sugar, she smiled at Remi. “Aw, why? He’s so happy to see you, aren’t you Galo?” She baby talked as Galo looked down at Remi, his eyes sparkling happily.

“Aina!”

Aina groaned childishly as she set the coffee on the counter. “Alright, c’mon Galo. Off.” She said as she leaned down and grabbed Galo by his collar. She hefted him off of Remi, his weight going limp as Galo allowed himself to be hauled off of the firefighter, showing no resistance.

Remi got up, huffing angrily as he tried to rub the tufts of blue fur off of his shirt. Aina snickered at him. “Oh c’mon Remi; Galo just wanted to show you how much he missed you.”

“Oh please” Remi complained as he picked up his glasses. “We both know you taught him to do that.”

Aina didn’t respond to his statement, but she also didn’t hide her smile. “Anyways,” she sing-songed, “what’s me and Galo’s shift tomorrow?” She said as she subtly reached down to give Galo a scratch behind the ear.

“You’re both due to only work the morning shift but if you want, you can both take a few days off.” Remi said as he reached to take back his coffee from Aina’s hands.

“Hmm, well;” Aina said. “Galo and I need to take tomorrow off. We’ll need to leave around noon, I guess.”

“Yeah, yeah; you’ll have to run it by the Chief first, but he’ll probably give it to you. Like I said, you both have a lot of time saved up.”

“Awesome, something came up at the lab and Heris couldn’t finish the check-up.”

“Oh really, probably this idiot’s bedside manner.” Galo tilted his head at Remi’s remark.

Aina shrugged. “Eh, you’d be surprised. Galo’s takes everything like a champ. Don’t you buddy?” She looked to Galo’s goofy, happy face.

Remi had a look of skepticism as he turned away with his coffee. “Shouldn’t you be putting him to bed?”

“Eh, that can wait a couple of minutes. I have time to microwave a quick dinner.” She turned away and Galo made to follow her, his eyes already beginning to get big and wide in preparation for his puppy dog look.

But Aina caught on to his game. “No, no, no; you’re not getting any of this. Go to your bowl if your hungry, I know for a fact Varys filled it up before we got here. Go on.” She shooed him away before opening the fridge for some leftovers. Galo turned away and made to walk out of the kitchen, but stop to give her a quick glance and a wagging tail at the edge of the doorway.

“No, go.” She said sternly. Seeing that his tricks wouldn’t work, Galo exited the kitchen.

🐀

Galo begged for the sake of it really. He knew that he had food in his bowl; he smelled it when they came in. But human food had a special flavor that he lived for. Like pizza, the greatest thing on earth! There was also pasta, hamburgers and sushi! Granted he couldn’t eat that _too_ often, Aina said that would make him fat and that that would make it hard to do his job and we couldn’t have that!

Galo shuddered at the idea of being unable to be a fire drake as he walked over to his raised feeding bowl and leaned down to eat at the mixture of a special kibble sent the lab with a single slice of lukewarm pizza laid on the top. Galo licked his lips as he made to start eating.

“ ** _Eh, so how’d the probing go_**?” A voice asked him.

Galo looked up, his mouth full of a bitten off piece of pizza to look at the rat poking his head over the edge.

“ _Huh? It’s not probing. It’s just a couple of tests. What’s probing?”_ Galo asked around his mouthful.

“ ** _Probing is when those white coats start sticking their hands and things places where they don’t belong. All those metal doodads, getting poked at with needles, those freezing cold hands poking and touching you all over the place._** ” Vinny shuddered as he perched at the edge of Galo’s bowl.

Galo swallowed what was in his mouth. “ _You don’t enjoy getting tests done? I like it when Ms. Heris does her tests, she always pets me and gives me scratches.”_

 ** _“That’s because you’re an idiot whose standards are way too low.”_** Vinny remarked as he snatched a pepperoni slice off of the half eaten of pizza.

“ _Wha? How does liking pets make me an idiot_?”

“ ** _If I have to explain it to you, then that just confirms it_**.” Vinny turned his nose up and began to nibble at his pepperoni.

“ _What can I say, I like the attention. I can’t help it!”_ Galo smiled to the rodent as he looked over the rim of his bowl.

“ _Nyeh, like I said, you’re an idiot_.” Vinny sat back on his haunches to finish his pepperoni while Galo stuck his head into his bowl and set to gobbling up it’s contents.

The two ate nosily together, Galo offering a piece of his kibble to the rodent, only to be rejected as Vinny instead jumped off the food bowl and returned with a large hotdog that he hungrily set to work on.

Galo liked Vinny. When the team was called out to an emergency, Vinny rode with Lucia and assisted in working and deploying the mechs up to the fire. When Galo first arrived, Vinny poor, little heart almost exploded when the many times bigger creature showed up last year. His heart became even worse when the big drake took to showing Vinny just how much he liked him. Galo would never everhurt Vinny, but his constant nuzzling of the little rat and his habit of petting him with his huge paws.

It admittedly took a while for Vinny to actual warm up to Galo. But upon realizing that, despite the sharp teeth in the drake’s mouth, Galo did in fact NOT want to swallow him in one gulp; Vinny did actually begin to warm up to him.

After the two were nice and full, Vinny hopped on to Galo’s head and rode him into the breakroom. After dropping Vinny off on top of the dresser, Galo hopped up onto the breakroom sofa and watched as the TV was switched on.

Vinny looked over his tiny shoulder. “ **Whatcha feel like watching tonight**?”

“ _Ooh! Is the rat race on_?” Galo asked excitedly, his tail wagging as he stretched out on the couch.

“ **I keep telling you, that’s not what you think it is.** ” The rat said tiredly as he turned the knobs on the low-tech television.

“ _Oh, well; wanna just watch cartoons?”_ He asked instead.

“ **Eh, we did that yesterday. I can only take so much slapstick**.”

As the rodent continued to switch randomly through the channels, the two of them argued back and forth about what to watch in the short amount of time before the two of them had to go to bed. As the switch continued to turn, there were quick static-y flashes of the programs zoomed past as the two continued to discuss.

But right as Vinny was about to suggest the two just give up and try to beg for food again.

“-that’s right Reggi, this magnificent creature next to me is named “Kray”-

“ _Ooh, wait! Go back!”_ Galo yelled as Vinny changed the channel.

“ **What? You really want to waste time on the news**?” Vinny whined.

“ _The news is never a waste of time and also, go back, I think I saw Kray!”_ Galo said as he hopped out of the chair and walked over to put his front paws on the table, peering into the electric box as the rat did as he was told.

A pretty woman in a jeans and a blouse was down on one knee with a microphone in her hand. Sitting next to her was a drake much larger than Galo. He was covered in pale gold scales and had a broad white chest. Two white horns curled over the top of his head and beneath his nose, a proud, gracious smile sat on his face. The drake wore a white vest and ankle and wrists bracers and around his neck, a dark blue collar with a golden tag nestled in the dip of his throat. Below his left shoulder, his arm turned from flesh to a steel prosthetic.

“If you’re just now tuning in, I’m Maddie Orino and I’m sitting here with one of the militarized drake that is on the front line with our soldiers.” A man with a helmet and visor on held a leash that connected to the drake’s collar was held tightly in his fist. “So this here is Kray, one of the most decorated drakes in our military at this time.” She spoke clearly into the microphone.

“Now, for those of you who are unaware; drakes are a very rare and very intelligent animal that was only discovered in the last century or so; it has only been about three decades since it was discovered that these creatures can in fact be trained in ways not unlike your common dog.”

She motioned towards Kray. “Kray is one of the first drakes to be trained for military use. He is trained to retrieve and detect illegal contraband, to alert his handlers to hidden enemy forces and, if what I’ve been told is correct, he can take down individuals at least four times his size. Is all that correct?” She looked to the handler, who nodded his head.

 **“That’s Kray**?” Vinny asked as he watched the television.

“ _Yeah, Ms. Heris said he would be coming back soon.”_ Galo said, staring rapt at the screen.

“Now, Kray’s handler has informed us that for security purposes, he can neither show us his face or answer any of our questions. However, I have also been told that Kray himself can answer any yes or no questions that I may have. So first off: Do you enjoy your job Kray?”

Kray looked to her and nodded his head proudly.

The newswoman covered her mouth in amazement. “Oh my god.” She whispered quietly. “Heh, okay next question: Have any of your teammates been hurt recently?”

The drake shook his head.

“Okay, last question: Are you excited to be going home soon?” The drake nodded his head proudly.

“Well thank you for your time, Kray.” The woman got to her feet and looked into the camera. “So as you heard me say, Kray will be going back home tonight. We hope he has a safe trip. Coming up next-”

The woman’s sentence was interrupted when the image cut out to a black screen.

“ _Huh?”_ Galo gaped as the television turned off.

The sound of a throat clearing came from behind him and he turned around to see Aina standing in the doorway.

“Sorry buddy, but its time for bed.” She said as she laid the remote down on the desk near the door.

Galo whined loudly at that, pawing at the blackened screen; his big paws too clumsy to turn the knobs on the television.

“I know, I know; but we have a morning shift tomorrow.” She turned, motioning for Galo to follow. “C’mon, you don’t want to be tired for your shift, do you?”

Knowing that she had hit the right spot, Galo sighed and dropped down to all fours. Vinny hopped down to Galo’s head as he passed.

Aina led Galo over to a gated off section of the garage. Passed the gate, an extra large wooden doghouse with stuffed with a blanket sat. All around it were balls, pillows, towels and gnawed up bones.

After handing the rat off to the pink haired female, Galo stepped into the enclosure, grabbed a pillow in his teeth and stepped into his house. “Good boy” Aina praised the drake as he situated himself into a more comfortable position.

Galo laid down and looked up at Aina expectedly.

“What?” She said.

Galo blinked and tilted his head at her.

“What?” She said with a bit more urgency.

One of Galo’s ears twitched, but his eyes remained firmly on the firefighter.

Aina dropped her arms in defeat. “Ugh, fine.” She reached into the pocket of her shorts and fished out a fire truck shaped treat. She tossed it towards Galo and he leaned up to catch the treat in his mouth with a crunch.

As Galo munched on the treat, Aina smiled and turned away from him with Vinny on her shoulder. She exited the enclosure, closed the gate and locked it tightly.

“Goodnight Galo.” She said fondly.

Galo grunted a return goodnight to her and pulled his head into the house, leaving his tail to hang out of its doorway.

Within thirty minutes, quiet snoring echoed through the garage.

🥽

Heris frowned as she stared at the screen in front of her, the words reflecting in her glasses as the readings zoomed across the screen.

Heris growled quietly, the scientist next to her held a clipboard to his chest.

“Doctor, the readings are getting worse.” He said fearfully. Heris did not respond as she listened to the steady beeping of the machine in front of her.

“We can’t give up yet. There has to be a way to stop the decline.” She turned away from the machine and looked down at the table in front of her.

A small body was laid out on the table, his scaly chest moving up and down shallowly and the sound of weak breathing resonated like an explosion in Heris’ ears. She took in the bandages over the right eye of the little creature, small spots of blood showing through the fabric. The scales were messily arranged on the shoulders, like the hair of a child who just got out of bed.

Heris took a deep breath and pulled the blanket laid over the drake up further so that the shoulders were covered.

“Is the other still okay?” Heris asked without turning away from the table.

“Yes ma’am, we’ve kept observation on her and she currently show no signs of illness or fatigue.

Heris leaned on her hands situated next to the little body. “But that could change…” Her glasses reflected the pale little face. The eyes weakly open a bit and the pupils looked left and right in confusion. But the pupils stuck when they came to the scientists face.

The beeping of the machine sped up slightly and the small chest shuddered as the breaths became ragged and uneven.

Heris reached her hand up, attempting to bring comfort with a small stroke. But the head turned away from her hand and the beeping became even more erratic.

She froze as a small whimper came from the creature and she could see small tears beginning to well up beneath the eyelids.

She pulled away reluctantly.

Heris took a deep breath. “We need to hurry and try to find a way to fix this.”

She opened her mouth to say something else, but a sound interrupted low sound. A noise that echoed down the halls outside; a mournful howl rang down the halls of the laboratory.

The scientist all froze as the sound reverberated; starting out singular but then joined by what felt like hundreds of others.

The beeping from the machine sped up again and a small, clawed hand attempted to rise from the table, suspending itself in the air for a moment before it ran out of strength and fell back to metal.

Heris looked towards the closed door with concern and then turned her face back the table. She walked towards it and tucked the blanket on around the shoulders again, being careful not to touch the little creatures hand.

She whispered. “We can’t keep them away for too long…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so nervous when I update my stories. So let me know how I did. Constructive criticism is welcome.

**Author's Note:**

> The Author is not good at this. Constructive criticism is welcome.


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